Though we are not dealing as yet with the Holy Eucharist as a Sacrifice, of which the Consecration is the essence, still Consecration comes partially under notice here, as denoting the time when the Real Presence of Our Lord is brought upon our altars, and Transubstantiation is effected. It is the words of Consecration used by Our Lord at the institution of the Holy Eucharist, and now pronounced by the priest in the Mass, that accomplish the Divine mystery of the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
These words constitute what we have already described as the form of the Sacrament, and are two-fold, relating to the bread and wine respectively. They are pronounced secretly but distinctly by the priest in the Mass, in virtue of the commission given to the Apostles and their successors: “Do this for a commemoration of Me” (Luke 22:19).
Over the bread the priest utters the words: “This is My Body,” and immediately kneels to adore the Lord God of Heaven in his hands, come down upon the Altar through the power of those words. Over the wine he says: “This is My Blood,” and in like manner again he genuflects to adore the Precious Blood in the chalice, replacing the wine that was there before, but there no longer, though the appearances thereof remain.
The words of Consecration are the most solemn that it is given to man to utter; they are of Divine omnipotence, since they work daily such miraculous effects, and bring down the very Angels from Heaven to adore their Lord present upon the Altar. At the moment of Consecration, every head is bowed, and silence reigns throughout, while feelings of reverence and awe fill the hearts of all present towards the august Victim before them.
We must always endeavour to be most recollected and devout during these few moments, so solemn and awe-inspiring, that not a few non-Catholics, who have been present at the time, have averred how deeply struck they have been with the sacredness of the moment and the impressive character of that part of the Sacrifice. Any irreverence or wilfull distraction on our part at such a time would seem almost to partake of the nature of sacrilege, so great would be the insult offered thus to Our Lord, at the very time of His coming amongst us.
A German writer tells of a sacrilegious parody of the sacred words of Consecration, and of the punishment that followed, in a village of his own country, in the year 1807. A blasphemer took it into his head to turn these words into ridicule. Sitting down to table with his companions, he takes some bread and wine, and says over them, with mock solemnity: “This is my Body: this is my Blood.” No sooner had he completed the parody, than he laid his head on the table, and in a few minutes he died!
At the very moment the words of Consecration are uttered in the Mass, they effect what they express, that is, they transubstantiate the bread and wine into the real Body and Blood of Christ. In the life of Saint Louis, King of France, we read that Mass was one day being said in his palace, when, at the words of Consecration, Our Lord appeared visibly present on the altar, under the form of a beautiful child, whom all were enraptured to see. Word was immediately sent to the king to come and witness the miracle God was working to prove the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. But Louis stirred not. “I firmly believe already,” he said, “that Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist: I do not wish to lose the merit of my faith by going to see this miracle.” And he did not go.
On the other hand, want of faith was once miraculously rebuked, when in the village of Bolsena, in Italy, a priest while saying Mass allowed himself to have doubts as to the Real Presence. Our Lord, to lead him to better dispositions caused the sacred Host to pour forth blood, so that the corporal and altar cloths were all saturated. The Pope, Urban IV, on hearing the miracle, had the corporal taken to him, and mindful of the entreaties already made to him, regarding the establishment of a feast of the Blessed Sacrament, was led to hasten the institution of the festival of Corpus Christi, which has been solemnly observed in the Church ever since.
It need hardly be said that it is only the priest duly ordained that can effectively pronounce these solemn words, since he alone has received the awful powers of consecration, when he was ordained and raised to the sublime dignity of the priesthood of the New Law. They are valid and effective, no matter by whom pronounced, by saint or sinner, provided only he be duly ordained, for the priestly character and power can never be lost. Thus had the unhappy Judas ever said Mass, his utterance of these words would have been as marvellously productive of the Real Presence, as when any of the other apostles did so. God, in His goodness, does not allow the validity of the Sacrifice to depend on the dispositions of the priests who offer it, so we need not be anxious under this head, nor worry ourselves with uncharitable doubts or suspicions, as to the dispositions of the priest at the Altar. His responsibility is his own, and does not concern us, nor does it affect the validity of the Sacrament or Sacrifice of which he is the minister.